Today’s quick updates focuses on new laws that have an impact on our social media universe.

“And let’s see how Fort Lee scores on the ‘Laws That Make Sense Index.’ Oh my. Zero point zero.”

I M getting ticket for txt-walking. Srsly.

File this under “You people really have too much free time on your hands” as Fort Lee, New Jersey is poised to pass a law that makes it illegal to text while walking. Fort Lee, as you already know, is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan and is also the birthplace of both the American motion picture industry and subliminal advertising. A concept which <you love SoMeLaw Thoughts and want to tell everyone about it> is still questioned as to its effectiveness.

And speaking of questioning its effectiveness, Fort Lee is banning text-walking for safety concerns. The town says they’ve had 20 people get hit by cars this year because they’ve been so distracted by their phones they ended up jaywalking into moving vehicles. In case you didn’t know, jaywalking is illegal. Meaning the town is trying to make an activity DOUBLY illegal to try and get your attention. An action that I don’t think has ever, in the history of law and punishment, ever worked. Not even when Dean Wormer put the Deltas on Double Secret Probation.

In criminal justice social media, users are represented by two separate yet equally important networks…

I’m no expert in criminal procedure. In fact, I studied for that part of both bars I took by watching a lot of Law & Order episodes (they were really good on getting the law right…plus they had that awesome opening). But from my perspective it looks like Twitter’s move in fighting a court order requiring user data to be turned over without a warrant to be a mostly symbolic fight. Court orders tend to be fill-in-the-blank forms that are used during discovery in a variety of lawsuits. Warrants require judicial review and signature. So Twitter’s move, requiring a warrant rather than just a form to turn over data, may impose enough of a burden to prosecutors that will prevent Twitter from being dragged into too many lawsuits. But it may also just fall in the realm of other information judges routinely grant access. It could even backfire as complying with warrants can carry stricter penalties/requirements than other, more generic court orders.

But even as a symbolic fight, it’s a good fight to make. While most Twitter users don’t protect their tweets, some do. There’s been far too little pushback on what non-public information can be retrieved on social media so this is a welcome look at an issue that will only increase in importance.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

SoMeLaw Thoughts are entirely my own opinion about social media legal issues and not the statement, opinion, or in any other way affiliated with Dell.

This means I could be completely wrong about everything I post here. Sure, I’ve practiced for over ten years in technology law and have supported Dell’s social media team for a fair amount of time, but if you get five lawyers in a room and ask a question you’re likely to get seven different opinions. Oh, and it’s a really boring room. And someone will probably start quoting Latin. So I could be totally wrong here.

This is also not specific legal advice for you. I don't know you. Even if I know you I didn't write this for you, I wrote it for the blog and you're reading it. You want legal advice? Hire an attorney! A good one.